The light returneth!! And, yet, the darkness is in each day.

It is Christmas for many of you this day and we are sending you our love to include in your celebrations.

At our house, we are in the midst of Hannukah. We light our menorah each night, eat potato latkes, play games, read stories and have family time together. This year that was made even more possible by this crazy, delicious, and persistent snow! Up at our place we have about 12 inches of the stuff. We have built snowmen, started a snow fort, sledded and skiied right from our doors. What a treat. On the flip side, we have been locked in, cut off, and spent moments PRAYING for some new face to see. Though we are saddened at the weather-related loss of our annual Hannukah party this year, we hope you will 'pencil us in' for next year!

We were blessed with a ski-over visit from new friends and neighbors(!!), Rose and Kurt and two days ago we threw all caution to the wind and drove out toward Eagle Creek to visit with friends who were really snowed in down their little idyllic valley. What a road for sledding though!! They used their tractor to plow a swath down the middle (think luge run). What a hoot! I haven't laughed like that in a long time - which is kind of a sobering thought.... Come on, when is the last time YOU laughed so hard you thought you might pee in your snowsuit? Is it possible that we are all taking things just a little too seriously? Maybe it's just me....

On the health front. I have been feeling a bit of a mess of late. Some persistent stomach, nausea, and 'swimmy' head symptoms and that darn knee is acting up again BIG time. Andrew and I spent yesterday at St. Vincent's Hospital where I underwent full body & brain scanning. Of course none of the technicians are supposed to tell you anything, but the bone scan guy says, 'OW! WHAT did you do to that knee?' He showed me the scan after and it is rather ugly. All clear and unblemished on the left side, gnarly mass of black on the right. Of course this could be residual from the multiple injuries and surgeries this poor knee has endured. And, of course it could be a tumor. On the good side, the tech didn't seem to think so. He did take extra scans of the knee and I asked him to have them sent over to the orthopedic surgeon at the same time as the oncologist. My ortho appt. is rescheduled for next week. I am hoping with these scans to have an expedient surgery date. I am guessing that a knee replacement is in my future. If the rest of the scans show no evidence of disease (NED), I want to get moving on that. Generally they want to wait until people are older, but I am going to angle for the, 'I might be dead then' and I want to ride, swim, hike, farm NOW.

Oh and the brain MRI tech. Did I tell you what he said as I was leaving? 'I'm sure you'll hear from your oncologist about this VERY soon.' I collapsed into tears when I got back to Andrew in the waiting room. On the other hand, my oncologist wasn't waiting for me at the door of the hospital as we left so that's gotta mean it's ok, right? At least for today.

And speaking of rides! Fabrication on my custom bike has started and the frame is almost ready to be sent off to the painters. Check out this amazing WOMAN bike builder (I've put a link to her web site in the links section at the top of the toolbar) She's incredible and funny and and talented and I like her politics. And she has nifty bike and art gifts on her site as well. Check out the photos for a photo of the emerging bike.

Phew - sorry for being so long-winded here! I'm going to check out that blogspot a couple of you recommended.......honest. Just as soon as I write the farm business plan, finish those 3 custom rugs I have on order, build a website for the farmers market food coop and school garden project, and whip up some more latkes for tonight.....